Category: Resources

Sound and Weak Letters

What is the Arabic Alphabet called?

They are called /huroof al hijaa’/ حروف الهجاء

Because Arabic is written cursively, the letters are connected and therefore, the shape of the letter changes when it is connected to another letter. The letters have four positions, separate, initial, middle and final.

These are:

finalmiddleinitial separate
ء، ـــؤ، ــئ، ــأ ــأ، ــؤ، ــــئــــ، ئــأ ء
Examples أمثلة

أكرم سأل مئة بؤبؤ داء شاطئ سبأ

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـبـبـبــ ب
Examples أمثلة

بـَيت قبـْر جيب

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـتـتـتــ ت
Examples أمثلة

تَـمر كتَب بيت

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـثـثـثــث
Examples أمثلة

ثَوب لثَام بَـحَث

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـجـجـجـج
Examples أمثلة

جَـمل سـجَن ثلـج

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـحـحـحـح
Examples أمثلة

حِبـر بـحْر رَبِـحَ

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـخـخـخـخ
Examples أمثلة

خَيـر بُـخار مُـخ

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـدـدد د
Examples أمثلة

دم بدر سد

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـذـذذ ذ
Examples أمثلة

ذباب بذرة شذّ

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـرـرر ر
Examples أمثلة

رب برج بـحر

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـزـززز
Examples أمثلة

زاد قزم وكز

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـسـسـسـس
Examples أمثلة

ساد قسم خس

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـشـشـشـش
Examples أمثلة

شر مشمش عيش

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـصـصـصـص
Examples أمثلة

صار بصل لص

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـضـضـضـض
Examples أمثلة

ضرب مضرب بعض

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـطـطـطـط
Examples أمثلة

طار بطن بط

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـعـعـعـ ع
Examples أمثلة

عاد بعد طمع

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـغـغـغـ غ
Examples أمثلة

غار بغل بلغ

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـفـفـفـ ف
Examples أمثلة

فأر كفى كف

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـقـقـقـ ق
Examples أمثلة

قبـر بقرة برق

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـكـكـكـ ك
Examples أمثلة

كتاب مكتب ملك

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـلـلـلـ ل
Examples أمثلة

لسان قليل ليل

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـمـمـمـ م
Examples أمثلة

من نـمـر نعم

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـلاـلا لا لا=ل+ا
Examples أمثلة

لا طلاب بلا

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـنـنـ نـ ن
Examples أمثلة

نـبـي فنان فنون

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـهـهـهـ ه
Examples أمثلة

هو شهد معه

finalmiddleinitial separate
ـوـوو و
Examples أمثلة

وطن صوت ينـجو

finalmiddleinitial separate
ــيـييـ ي
Examples أمثلة

يوم سيّد وعي

NOTES

  • Arabic writes and reads from right to left (RTL). To simplify, it is like when you draw clockwise circles except for some letters.
  • Non-connective letters (ا، د, ذ، ر، ز، و), here grey-shaded, do not connect to the following letter. Therefore, the separate and the initial position is identical.
  • Dots are important to distinguish letters that have identical shape. 

The Weak letters حروف العلة

The weak letters are three :

ا – و – ي

They are called weak letters [huroof ili’lla] due to they occasional change and omission they undergo.

Fractions [Basic]

The word for fraction is كَسْر which means [break]. because it is like breaking the whole into smaller fractions. The numerator (number above the line) is called [بسط] and the denominator (the number under the line) is called [مقام].

The basic fraction words are:

 

Family [Basic]

This is a quiz through which you can practice and test your knowledge of the basic family words. This quiz can be used by teachers for testing or warping up a lesson about family members.

This chart can be used for illustration.

Family words

Family words quiz. Study the family tree and choose the correct answer to complete the sentence.

Subject Verb Agreement

The verb in Arabic includes the following items of information:

  1. Meaning
  2. Time reference
  3. Gender reference
  4. Grammar case [mabni/murab]
  5. Number

Subject-verb agreement [SVA], therefore, is an agreement of gender and number. Of course this is the case only when the verb follows the doer [subject] of the verb but not when the verb precedes the doer.

Look at the charts below and notice how [ا], [و], [ي] and  [ن] function as indicators of gender and number suffixed to the verb.

When the verb precedes the subject the verb is either singular masculine or singular feminine.

Now you can do this quiz to check your understanding of the Subject-Verb agreement.

Subject Verb Agreement

Try to complete the sentence with the correct form of verb that agrees with the subject [pronoun] given.

Common Vocabulary [2]

Improve your Arabic vocabulary through this quiz.

This quiz includes the common names of animals in Arabic. This is good for revision and teachers can use it for testing after some lessons about animals.

Animals in Arabic [1]

This is a simple quiz for common animals in Arabic. Read the name of the animal in Arabic and choose the right image.

Gender

Nouns in Arabic can be either masculine or feminine.

MASCULINE nouns refer to male gender and have no sign of gender. they are noun from the meaning of the word, such as:

  • Student [طالب ]
  • Man [ رَجُل]
  • book [ كتاب]
  • king [ مَلك]
  • pen [قلم]

FEMININE nouns refer to female gender and are of two types:

EXPLICIT: the word has feminine gender indicators as:

  • taa marboutah [ ة ] :
  • shortened alif [ ى ]:
  • alif followed by hamza [اء]:

We usually change the masculine nouns by suffixing taa marbouta [ ة ] to the noun.

IMPLICIT: the word does not have any gender indicators such as:

  • mother [ أم]
  • daughter [بنت ]
  • sun [شمس]
  • eye [عين]
  • ear [أذن]

There are some old masculine proper nouns end with tea marbouta such as:

معاوية ، حمزة ، عروة ، طلحة

Some nouns that end with (ى) as the last radical of the root verb are NOT feminine, such as:

  • shelter [مأوى ]
  • young man  [فتى ]
  • guidance  [هُدى ]

Most names of body organs that are pairs such as eyes, ears, lungs, kidneys are feminine even if they don’t have feminine signs:

  • kidney [كلية ]
  • lung [رئة ]
  • leg [رِجل ]
  • hand [يد ]
  • eye [عين ]
  • ear [أذن ]
  • testicle [ خصية]

Feminine words borrowed from other languages  usually end with [ا]:

  • France [فرنسا ]
  • Germany [ ألمانيا]
  • music [ موسيقا]
  • mango [ مانجا]
  • potatoes [بطاطا]

Some nouns that end with hamza after (ا) as the last radical of the verb are NOT feminine.

  • judgement /jurisprudence [قضاء ]
  • winter [ شتاء]
  • building [ بناء]

Now try to do the quiz below to evaluate your understanding.

Gender

Look at the noun and choose whether it is feminine [مؤنث] or masculine [مذكر].

Listening Quiz [Shared Accommodation ]

You will hear a radio interview with Haifa about a flat-share. You will hear the recording twice.

After you have listened to the audio,  click ‘take quiz‘ to answer the questions. Your results will be provided after you have finished the questions.

This listening exercise is taken from: OCR 2009, Asset Languages , Intermediate Arabic [Listening], Grade 7

Listening Exercise


 

The Song of the Rain

The Song of the Rain

By Badr Shakir Assyyab

أَصيحُ بالخليج : ” يا خليجْ
يا واهبَ اللؤلؤِ ، والمَحارِ ، والرّدى
فيرجعُ الصّدى
كأنّه النشيجْ
يا خليج، يا واهب المحار والردى
أكاد أسمع العراق يذْخرُ الرعودْ
ويخزن البروق في السّهول والجبالْ
حتى إِذا ما فضَّ عنها ختمها الرّجالْ
لم تترك الرياح من ثمودْ
في الوادِ من أثرْ
أكاد أسمع النخيل يشربُ المطر
وأسمع القرى تئنّ ، والمهاجرين
يصارعون بالمجاذيف وبالقلوع
عواصف الخليج ، والرعود ، منشدين
“مطر … مطر … مطر …”

I cry out to the Gulf: “O Gulf,
Giver of pearls, oysters and death!”
And the echo sounds
like deep lamentation :
“O Gulf, Giver of oysters and death .”
I can almost hear Iraq groaning with thunder,
Storing lightning in the mountains and plains,
So once men have unleashed them,
The wind will leave in the valley no trace of Thamud.
I almost hear the palm trees drink the rain,
And I hear the villages moan and emigrants
With oar and sail defying tempests of the Gulf and thunders, chanting:
“Rain… Rain… Rain…”

 

Translation: Nizar Taha Hajj Ahmad
Reading: Ammar Haj Ahmad

GCSE [adjectives2]

adjectives 2

This quiz is to help students who are doing GCSE exams to revise their vocabulary. The quiz includes 20 adjectives and their meanings. Read the word
[adjective] in Arabic and choose the right English meaning.

Adjectives 2 Arabic

This quiz is to help students who are doing GCSE exams to revise their vocabulary. The quiz includes 20 adjectives and their meanings. Read the word [adjective] in English and choose the right Arabic meaning.

Damascus

دمشق

مدينة الياسمين

Read the following passage about Damascus and Listen to the audio provided. There is also a list of the key words in the passage. Structure analysis is also included. Do the quizzes below to evaluate your understanding of the passage.

Damascus the City of Jasmine

 Key words:

capital [عاصمة], republic [الجمهورية ], part  [جزء ], mountain [جبل ], bank [ضفة], river [نهر ], orchard [بستان], inhabited [مأهولة ], position, rank, place, value [مكانة], distinguished [مرموقة ], foreign [أجنبي ], state [دولة ], science [علم ], culture [ثقافة ], Arts [فنون ], Literature [أدب ], BC [قبل الميلاد ].

Structure

Nominal Sentences

This passage is aimed to show examples of nominal sentences. As you can see that there is only one verbal sentence which starts with the verb [كانت]. The rest of the passage is nominal sentences that start with nouns. Nominal sentences are very common in Arabic. They are equivalent to English sentences with the verb’ to be’ [is, am, are] as the main verb.

examples:

  • Damascus is the capital of the Syrian Arab Republic. [دمشق عاصمة الجمهورية العربية السورية]
  • The students are in the library. [الطلاب في المكتبة]
  • I am a teacher. [أنا مُعَلِّمٌ]

In the three examples, you can see that in Arabic the equivalent to the verb ‘to be’ [is, am, are] is not present neither in speech nor in writing; it is rather understood. This is the simple structure of a nominal sentence which starts with a noun and the rest of the sentence functions as predicate [خبر] to the noun.

Nisba

This passage includes also examples of [nisba] . Nisba is the formation of adjectives that relate something or somebody to their origin. We form nisba adjectives by simply adding a doubled [ّي] to the end of the noun of origin whether it is a science, branch of knowledge, material or country.

If there is [ا] or [ة], we delete them before we add the [ّي].

Country and Nationality :

I am from Syria [أنا من سوريّا] can be written [أنا سوريّ ]. Here the letter [ألف] in the end of the word [سوريا] is deleted and the [َّي] is added to the name of the country/origin to form the nisba adjective.

examples:

  • I am from Britain  [أنا من بريطانيا], I am British [أنا بريطانيّ]
  • Hans is from Germany [هانز من ألمانيا]. Hans is German [ هانز ألمانيّ]
  • Rebecca is from Scotland [ربيكا من اسكوتلندا ]. Rebecca is Scottish [ ربيكا اسكوتلندية]. Here taa marbouta  [ة ] was added because the head noun [Rebecca] is feminine.

Material : 

This is wood [هذا خشب] . This is a wooden chair [ّهذا كرسي خشبي].

examples:

  • gold  [ذهب], golden [ذهبيَ]
  • cotton [قطن]. made of cotton [ّقطني]
  • metal [معدن ]. made of metal [ معدني].

Science and branches of knowledge : 

I study medicine [أنا أدرس الطّبّ]. These are my medical books [هذه كتبي الطبيَّة].

examples:

  • Politics  [سياسة], political [سياسي]
  • Art [فن]. Artistic [ّفنيّ]
  • Economy [إقتصاد ]. Economic [ إقتصادي].
  • Philosophy [فلسفة ]. Philosophical [ فلسفي]

There are also many other nisba adjectives that can be formed by adding [ي]. For example:

  • international [دولي]
  • governmental [حكومي ]
  • foreign [أجنبي ]

Try to find in the passage the nisba adjectives of the following nouns:

  • Administration [إدارة]
  • Education [تعليم ]
  • Economics [إقتصاد]

Regular Feminine Plural

It is usually formed by deleting the [ة] in the end of the word and adding the suffix [ات]. To read more about sound plurals click here.

Try to find in the passage the plural forms of the following feminine words:

  • establishment [مؤسسة ]
  • ministry [وزارة ]
  • embassy [سفارة ]
  • organisation [منظمة ]

Prepositions with pronouns

In Arabic, the prepositions join with connective pronouns and are written and pronounced as one word. For example, in the passage there are three prepositions [من = from], [لــ= to, for] and [في= in] join with the feminine singular pronoun [ها] in one written form, respectively:

  • منها
  • لها
  • فيها

Quizzes

Try to do the four quizzes below to evaluate your comprehension.

Damascus Quiz 1

This quiz is about word groups. Read the word given and choose the right group the word belongs to. There are four groups of word to choose from:
Government [ حكومة]
Nature [طبيعة ]
Politics [سياسة]
City [مدينة]

Damascus Quiz 2

Look at the image and choose the right word.

Damascus Quiz 3

Read the statement and decide whether it is true or false! 

Your answer should depend on what was mentioned in the passage about Damascus.

Damascus Quiz 4

Choose the right answer to complete the sentence.